


Can't Wait To Meet You

by kubotits



Category: Bloodlines Series - Richelle Mead
Genre: F/M, Fluff without Plot, Future Fic, Pregnant, it drained the life out of me enjoy, it's literally just them talking about the future and being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-19
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-02-05 07:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1810261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kubotits/pseuds/kubotits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a couple years of marriage, Sydney and Adrian find out they're pregnant and are adorable, life-ruining idiots about it (as always).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't Wait To Meet You

**Author's Note:**

> Did Sydney get her Master's or a PhD? You decide. I see her working as a chemist on a university grant, but architecture and multicultural studies are always a good option too. Hell, she could do anything. Also took some liberties with Adrian and his relationship with Spirit: I wanted him to be healthy but I wanted Jill to still be bonded to him, so let's just go with it, mmkay?

The logical, usually more dominant, part of her brain reminded her that the package had said “allow two to three minutes,” but after the first excruciating sixty seconds, Sydney was starting to think that maybe the clock on her cell phone was broken. There was no way that had been only a minute, it felt more like a month. Twenty seconds into the second minute and she was losing all cool, suspecting that she would have time to give birth before the test could even tell her if she were pregnant or not.

On her perch of the toilet lid, she stretched forward, anxiously rubbing her hands together. She honestly didn't know why she was so antsy. It was several years into their marriage now and they had always wanted a family; they had decided _after grad school_ was the best time, but now that they were _there_ …

And it wasn't like they had been exactly trying, but they hadn't been _not_ trying, either. That is to say, they had _stopped_ not-trying. And to say that Sydney was baby-crazy was an overstatement and a half, but she had taken to cooing and softening at the mere sight of little ones of late, especially with the fairly recent arrival of the new Dragomir prince. And Adrian...well, Adrian had been the first to start talking about kids, _years_ before the subject was even near appropriate. But now, now that she was _here_ , she couldn't tell if she was nervous because she _wanted_ this baby or if she didn't—

But the moment the little plus sign winked into view, she knew her answer.

She practically vibrated her way out of the bathroom, a part of her brain telling her, _You should test again, it might be a false positive_ , but she had already withheld too much information from Adrian. He needed to know. She needed to let it _out_. As fast as she could without running, she reached him, seated on the couch pouring over paintings.

He was as dashing as ever, reaching his mid-thirties doing nothing to diminish his good looks. He hadn't changed much, still lackadaisical and laid-back as ever, but he was a hard worker when it came to his art, had gotten way better at cleaning—much to Sydney's relief—and didn't care quite as much about his hair (now he only spent _twenty_ minutes styling it, rather than thirty). Those hands that he had claimed didn't do manual labor were not the same pristine examples of laziness, now they had half a dozen tiny nicks from pen knives and Sydney often found the undersides of his nails filthy with paint. The rest of him wasn't safe from it either, brushstrokes appearing in surprising places: a swipe just right to the hollow of his clavicle, a spot on his temple, or an isolated impressionist's dot at the end of his earlobe—and he wasn't the only one. Sometimes when he reached for her, he'd leave a mark, on her hip, the length of her shoulder, the hinge of her jaw, and she would pretend to be annoyed every time when they both knew she loved it.

Sydney couldn't help but think of that as she looked upon him, gathering up the courage and words to admit what she'd just been told by a _stick she had peed on,_ that had resolutely changed their lives. And about Adrian as a father, how well he would take to the role of nurturing and caring for their child. A giggle bubbled in her throat as she realized that, of course, she was going to have to be the disciplinarian and he was going to be the “fun” parent, a fact at once amusing and terrifying. She filed it away for later.

Standing in front of Adrian for what seemed like an age, lost in thoughts of their shared future, Sydney didn't notice when her husband looked up at her, crooking an eyebrow. “Sydney?”

She jumped, startled out of her reverie, then without further ado, blurted, "I...I'm pregnant." But no, that wasn't right, she wasn't alone in this, just like she'd never be alone again. " _We're_ pregnant," she revised.

"We—" He stood, his work suddenly forgotten, rising to meet her. If she had time, Sydney would have counted the stars in his brilliant green eyes as they lit up like fireworks. She wondered if— _hoped_ —their child would inherit them, stars and all. His smile was as wide as she'd ever seen it, incisors sharp and showing and beautiful. Adrian restarted his sentence, those eyes leaving hers to her belly, placing a tentative hand against her now-flat abdomen, "We're having a baby?"

Tears sprung, making the gold in her eyes melt all the more, as all she could do was nod her affirmative and cover his hand with hers. It didn't seem to fully hit her until he said it aloud. A half-laugh fell from Adrian and against her as he brought their lips together.

"We're having a baby!" he repeated ecstatically, picking her up and spinning her around. She shrieked with laughter and for the first time in Sydney's life it seemed, she was at a loss for words and could only kiss him again once he had set her down.

Happily, he hummed against her. Smile or kiss, those were the options his lips seemed to be warring over. Elation filled him from the tip of his toes to the top of his head; he felt full of the future, buzzed and dizzy with happiness—better than any high. He didn't think he could have been happier than when he was with Sydney: apparently he could.

“You're gonna be a mom,” he murmured once he pulled away, their noses touching. Adrian's voice had a stunned edge to it, like he was only just piecing together the information.

Sydney was still mute, nodding emphatically in response.

Oh, she was going to make such an amazing mother; she loved so fiercely and so passionately, she was going to love this baby with the same force of will she put into everything, the same power and strength. He didn't need to have seen her aura to know how hard and passionately she would fight to protect their child. But then—the rest of the pieces started fitting together. Something akin to dread drifted into his shoulders, making him go tense. Parenthood came in pairs, after all, he realized: “ _I'm_ going to be a dad. _Me_. A _dad_.”

Sydney beamed up at him, melting away any icy fear that had started to form inside him. She didn't falter at his worried tone, didn't even blink. “You're going to be great, Adrian. You'll be just as loving and supportive as you’ve always been. You're going to be so amazing.” She cupped his face in her hands and he covered them with his own. “We're ready. Financially, emotionally—we're so ready.”

“Ready to mess it up in our own specific way.” Adrian smirked, but as she had still barely even watched a whole episode of Friends, the reference was lost on his wife—who only took it as Adrian being Adrian.

She shook her head. “We didn't do _too_ poorly with Hopper.”

Adrian supplied a somewhat guilty expression, opening his mouth to say something clever about parenting practice when—the phone rang.

"Jill," they spoke in unison, coupled with nervous giggles. Of course she'd know through the bond. There was no way she could have blocked out something so big.

"I'm gonna be an aunt!" she cried the moment they put the phone on speaker.

"You're _already_ an aunt," quipped Adrian, shooting Sydney a sidelong look. “Like, a _real_ one.”

“You _know_ what I mean.” They could practically hear her rolling her eyes. “You two were my fake-siblings all that time in Palm Springs, it feels like you're all a part of the family. Not that you guys are like brother and sister, I mean you were _then_ as a cover but...well, the _point_ is that I see you as family. _Anyway_ , congratulations!!” Before they could tease her for her rambling habit she had never grown out of or even thank her, she blurted out, “Have a name yet?”

“We only just found out!” laughed an exasperated Sydney.

“I don't know,” began Adrian, dramatically stroking an invisible beard. “I'm partial to 'Adrian Jr.'”

Sydney gave him a look that said, _No way in hell_ , and Jill laughed because she knew it. But then her expression softened, curling a finger into a lock of hair before pushing it behind her ear. Her fingertips swiped over the faded tattoo at her cheek as she pondered the question. “What about Tatiana? After your aunt? We could call her Tiana.”

Adrian looked like she had punched him in the gut.

Panic rose in Sydney, afraid she had said the wrong thing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I know she meant a lot to you, and the hallucinations, but...It’s just such a pretty name and, well, I would have liked to have met her.”

“I’m not upset,” he answered truthfully, eyes shining. He leaned forward again, kissing her forehead. “She would have _loved_ you, Sydney.”

“Uhhh,” Jill sounded, “This seems like a private moment, so I’m gonna go and, um, leave you two alone. Alone-alone, no bond-poking or anything. So yeah. Congratulations again! Okay, yeah. Going. Bye.”

Sydney pressed the hang-up button without even looking down, lost in Adrian’s emerald eyes. He linked his fingers behind the base of her back, comfortably settling into the embrace; hers found themselves around his neck, delicately idling her hands over the fine hair at his nape. It took Adrian another moment to remember he'd forgotten something: “I love you.”

“I love _you_. I don't think I've ever loved you more,” she admitted.

Adrian beamed. “That's my line, Sage.”

The use of her old surname widened Sydney's smile, bringing up memories of how they had come to know each other. That name had always been her father's, a reminder of who she was and how she had become—but Adrian made it sound new, he made it _hers_.

A thought came to her: “Back when I was an Alchemist, it always seemed so...unnatural, the origin of dhampirs. Humans and vampires, you know, it was _forbidden_.”

“There was a time I thought that was your favorite word,” her husband interjected.

The look she gave him was somewhere between embarrassment for her past-self and exasperation in him. She continued, “But now...it's the most natural thing in the world. I love you. And I don't I love you in spite of what you are, it's a part of you. I love _you_ and you just happen to be an 'unholy creature of the night'”—he laughed, leaning his forehead against hers—“that's a part of who you are. You're not you without that. And...to love and...and be loved is the most natural thing there is....It's like the magic: this baby...it's a gift.”

Adrian looked as if he were _glowing_. “What was it I said all those years ago? 'Your brains, my charms, our collective looks...'?”

Sydney supplied warmly, “'It's really not fair to everyone else.'”

His grin went a little lopsided. “Yeah, that sounds like something I would say.”

“You were right, you know,” she said. “Our kid's going to put everyone to shame.”

Adrian laughed. “That's the spirit, Syd.”

“It's still going to be hard on them though. Even now, it's an unjust world for dhampirs, _especially_ those born of Moroi and humans.” Her fingers twisted in his hair with more urgency.

“Shh,” he soothed, pulling back slightly and rubbing his hands over her shoulders. “We don’t have to think about that just yet.”

“You’re right!” she exclaimed, suddenly excited. “There are so many other things we have to figure out! What I’m going to do about work, diet restrictions…” She tensed at the thought.

As if he had read her mind, Adrian asked (with genuine concern, but a teasing smile on his lips), “Didn’t I read somewhere that you can’t drink coffee?”

While Sydney had significantly reduced her caffeine intake since she and Adrian had started dating all those years ago, she still needed that extra boost in the morning to get her going. Sydney averted her eyes guiltily. “I was hoping you didn’t know about that…”

Adrian shook his head in disbelief. “This is our _kid_ , Sydney. If I can quit smoking for you, you can quit caffeine for our baby.”

She tried to grumble in response, but couldn’t do so without laughing, filled with the giddy thought of “ _our baby_.” She was having a baby with this man. He was going to be a father. He was going to teach their son or daughter to fingerpaint. Encourage them to be themselves. Let them get into all kinds of mischief.

Again, in perfect sync, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, he said, “You _know_ I’m going to be the fun parent.”

Even if she had thought of that first, she wanted to challenge that. With a quick incantation, she conjured up a fireball, holding it up between them. “You sure about that?”

The glow of the flame flickered shadows over Adrian’s grinning face. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” he teased.

She closed her fist, the flame _poof_  'ing out of existence with a puff of smoke, and kissed the father of her child.

That night, when Sydney was fast asleep, Adrian slipped his head beneath the covers, put his lips to his wife's belly, and whispered, “I can't wait to meet you.” He fell asleep beneath the covers, arms wrapped around her waist.


End file.
